Crane



C. E. FULLER CRANE May 19, 1925. Y 1,537,991l

Filed Jan. 4, 1922 2 sheets-.sheet 1 fw ff J @ZZ/02H27@ May 19, 1925.

C. E. FULLER CRANE Filed Jan. 4, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED STTES PTENT'OFFICE.

CLAUD E. FULLER, E NEW YORK, N. Y., nssIGNOR 'ro AMERICAN EQUIPMENTv OOM- PANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OE OHIO.

CRANE.

Application led January 4. 1922. Serial No. 526,904.

T 0 all 'whom t may concern:

Be it knownthat I, CLAUD E. FULLER, a citizen of the `.United States, and resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Cranes, of' which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likev letters on the drawings representing like parts.

VMy present invention relates to cranes o r hoisting mechanism and is particularly d1- rected to improve and perfect a hoisting crane for use in handling brick Setters or the like wherein it is important` and desirable to maintain the article, machine, 'apparatus or load being hoisted in a' predetermined position, preferably horizontal.

My invention is particularly -directed to 2.0 a crane or hoisting apparatus wherein it is important to maintain the load horizontal,

such for example, as in brick handling, where the brick are arranged in stacked relation in units, which stacked units'must be maintained horizontal duringxtheafhoisting,

lowering and handling operations` In carrying 'out my invention I-preferably provide a portable rotatable craneror .hoisting apparatus, wherein the hoisting boom is provided with an automatic levelling de-v vice and whereby the carrier for the load, setter or the like is' maintained at all times in horizontal position, irrespective of the raising, lowering or swinging of the boom.

I also provide means to maintain this an tomatic levelling device in predetermined position, which means acts automatically throughout the entire range of the lowering and raising of the boom as well as during the rotation or other lhandling of the same. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, I apply adjacent the end of the hoisting boom, a trame, pivotally mounted and supported. one end of this fra-me being connected with a; member which will act upon the frame automatically, to. hold such frame in its predetermined position throughout the entire range of movement of the boom. I accomplish this result in an eiiicient manner bya pivotal connection'between the frame and the rotatable part of the crane, this pivotal connection being in predetermined and spaced relation with respect to the pivot ol the boom and the piv-.

55. otal support of the "frame,

l20, in alinement with vthe sheaves 19.

In my present invention I nd it practical and advisable to provide a four point suspension from the crane boom -of the article, apparatus, brick setter or the like to be handled, the flexible cables constituting the suspending devices being-led over a Aplurality of pulleys suitably spaced and positioned on the frame and thus affording a constantly maintained horizontal support through which the Ahoisting ropes are led and from which the article being handled is sustained in its horizontal position, throughout the entire range of movement of thc boom, both vertically 'and rotatably.

Further features, novel-"combinations of parts and important advantages will be hereinafter more fully' vpointed out and claimed.

In the drawings, v,illustrating a preferred embodiment of iny invention,

2 is a partial-planv view, on' an enlarged scale, of the .outer end of the boom and levelling frame;

' Fig. 3 is a sideview of Fig. 2, and

Fig; 4 is. an end elevation.

Referring to the. drawings, 10 designates 'a portable support or platform on which is secured a base 11, the circular top otl which forms a roller race for rollers 12. Rotatably mounted on such rollers 1:2 is a `crane base 13 to Oneend of which is secured` by shaft 14 the lower end otl an inclined 1mast 15. uy rods or bars, but one ot' vwhich, 16,' is shown, are secured to the upper end of the mast 15 and to the end ot. the crane base 13, remote lfrom the 1sha t't v14. Iivotally mounted on the shaft 1-1 is the lower end o1" a crane boom 1T, which boom 4extends outwardly from the mast 15 to any required or suitable distance. Near4 the outer end of this -boom 17 is pivotally `mounted a frame 18 in which are rotatably mounted sheaves 19. At the'upper end of the mast 15 are rotatably mounted sheaves A wire cable 21 passes over the sheaves 19 and 2O and over a hoisting drum 22 mounted in a cabin 23 on the crane base 13 and driven from any suitable source ot power, and by means of which the, boom 1T. may bc raised or lowered.

On the outer end of the' boom 17 and extending transversely 'thereo is a shaft Q4 and rotatably mounted on this shaft is a frame. comprised of side members bent, as shown, to :form an obtuse angle, with the pivot point at'the apex of the angle, these side members 2 5 being spaced apart and secured in position relative* to 'each' other by cross bars or plates 26, the framel being strengthened by bars 27 secured'aty 4either end to the ends of the side ,members-I 25. Rotatably mounted atthe end of the side members 25, that extend upwardly from the boom 17, is a shaft 28 provided at its ends with sheaves 29. Secured to the inclined mast 15 are brackets 3() forming bearings for a shaft'31 having sheaves 32 secured to the ends thereof. Secured tothe sheaves 29 and 32 and Vextending therebetween are guy cables 33, a.V turn buckle 34 near the inclined mast 15 being'providedl for each cable. Theldistance between the shafts 14 and `24 for the boom'17 is equal too the length of the cables 33,v that is, equal to the distance between the shafts 31 and 28.

Also, the. distance between the shafts 24V and'28 is equal to the distance between the shafts 14 and 31. The boom, cables 33, and

the portions of the frame, including the side 1 fao members 25 and mast l5, form a parallelogram having opposite sides equal, and re-1 ardless of the extent of movement of the `oom 17 on its pivot shaft 14, the opposite sides of such parallelogram will always be parallel to each other. With the construction above described therefore, if we make the angle formed by the side members 25 such that the portions of such side membersV extending outwardly from the shaft 24 lie in a horizontalplane, it will be evident that such portions will lie Vin a horizontal plane Vregardless ofthe extent ofY movement of the boom 17 about its pivot shaft 14.

Secured to that portion of the side members 25 extending outwardly from the end of the boom 17 and lying parallel to and in the same horizontal plane as the shaft 24, and spaced apart therefrom, is a shaft 44, on which is rotatably `mounted at either end thereof sheaves 35 in alinement with sheaves rotatably mounted on the shaft 24. vAlso mounted on the shaft 24 and exterior of the sheaves 36 are sheaves 37. Cables 38 and 39 are secured at one end to a winding drum 40 in the cabin 23, and cable 38'passes overl the sheaves 37, while cable 39 passes over the sheaves ,and 35 and extend downwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Attached to the lower- =ends of the cables 38 and 39, of which there 1s a total of'four, is a load carrying device 41, in the drawings this device being shown as a rotatably mounted carriage adapted tdtra'nsport a unit of brick 42. As,

however, the details of construction of the device 42 do not concern the present invention, it will `not be describedy in detailk herein, it being understood that any load carrying device may be attached to the cables 38 and 39 and suspended from the .pivoted framey 25. As the winding drum 40 reels in and lets out the cables 38 and 39 equally, the` device41 willbe ymaintained in a horizontal plane provided the support therefor is maintained horizontal, and as, by reason-of the method of mountingthe fra1ne25 in position on the boom`17 ensures that the portion of said frame 25 extendingv outwardly from the -boom 17 is maintainedr in a horizontal plane, the device 4l will be maintained at all timesl in, a horizontal po.,-

sition, regardless of the position of the booni l ,It willl be vapparent-that the automatic levelling features of my present invention may be lapplied to different types of cranes that Imay vary the size, shape, and arrangement of parts comprising my device within Wide limits without departing from the spirit of theinvention. A

Having thus'described my invention, what I claim as new, is

Hoisting apparatus of the kind described,

roo

comprising, 1n combination, a base, a mast p mounted on, and in fixed relation thereto, a boom ivotally mounted on the base at the foot o Athe mast, a frame including' two bell crank levers arrangedparallel to, and spaced apart from, each other, pivotally mounted on the free end of the boom at the apex of the bell crank levers, means arran ed at the ends of thev pivotal mountingl o the bell crank levers and at Vthe ends of o "ed of the arms of said levers, and constituting a fourpoint suspension for a wor support, and

means extending from thefree ends of the other arms of the bell fcra'k levers to the mast for maintaining-'fth'four-point suspension means in planes bearing a constant relation to a horizontalv plane. Y

In testimony whereof, vI ha've signed my name to this specification.

`CLAUD E. FULLER. 

